In Chita Peninsula, along the Pacific coast of the central Honshu, a distinct interrelation was found among geology, topography and pedology, as well as vegetation. Southern steep hill is made up by the alternation of Miocene tuffaceous shale and sandstone. Being very tight and compact, shale is inclined to disintegrate to nutty and scaly fragments when it crops out in the air, and results to form the Lithosol on the steep relief. As the parent material is moderately permeable and rich in zeolite and montmorillonite, this soil may be unexpectedly most suitable for the culture of citrus fruits. Under the warm temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest on the narrow flat plane and gentle slope of this terrain, forms the Yellow-brown forest soil derived from Miocene shale and related colluvial sediments. Though the solum is rather shallow, one can easily find out the diagnostic bright yellow-brown structural B horizon. On a part of flat summit of the hill, remains the residual heavy Red soil which is thought to be the relic of the ancient red weathering crust. It is quite interesting that there are small areas where the Grumusol-like dark chocolate colored soil occurs under the secondary grass vegetation on the gentle slope of this terrain. The dry soil is tight and cracky, while the moist one sticky and plastic. The fact that the inherited montmorillonite from the parent material dominates in the clay fraction may be favourable to interprete such a behavior of this soil. On the northern gentle hill composed of Pliocene unconsolidated sand and gravel, distributes the immature Regosol, though the Red soil develops where fine-textural facies is exposed. Since it is buried under the younger terrace gravel here and there, this Red soil is also considered to be a paleosol. On the north-western middle marine terrace composed of Pleistocene silt and gravel, occurs the weakly-developed pseudogleyed Yellow-brown forest soil under secondary deciduous forest and scattered Japanese red pines. The pseudogleyzation may be mainly due to the tight and compact consistency of the parent silty material. On the other hand, the immature Regosol lies on the eastern lower marine terrace built up by fresh gravel.
